Our S.A.F.E.® (Self Awareness Family Education™) Intervention Services in Alabama help families with Loved Ones Experiencing Addiction and Mental Health Concerns.

When you speak to people in recovery who have been sober for any length of time, they all have one thing in common. The commonality is understanding that you must have pain and consequences to find recovery. Any one of them will tell you that nobody seeks help on a winning streak, nor does enabling, coddling, or validating negative behavior get people to treatment or the rooms of Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous. For those with mental health struggles that have significantly improved, not one of them has ever said, I lied to my therapist or psychiatrist, chose not to address my mental health disorders, replaced my medication with drugs or alcohol, and improved my condition. There is some truth and accuracy to the belief that to change, you must want help and hit bottom. What is rarely, if ever, discussed is why the person is not at the bottom and why they do not see the need for help. One of the number one predictors of successful outcomes in addiction and mental health treatment is the environment, and we include the family system as a significant factor that directly impacts the condition of the environment.

When a family is enabling, supporting, or even choosing inaction by looking the other way, this does not present an argument for the person with addiction or mental health problems to consider change. The data and case studies support the idea of moving through the stages of change. The intended patient must acquire ambivalence in the second stage of the five stages. In lay terms, ambivalence is seeing both sides of an argument and recognizing whether the current situation should change or remain the same. If the intended patient cannot see the need to do anything different, they most likely will not. When it is recognized that the current situation is more harmful than the perceived fear of doing something different, the person will almost certainly go the new route. The science and evidence of these concepts are part of the foundation of our S.A.F.E.® Intervention Services in Alabama and nationwide. We help families see what they can change and how to change it for their loved one to acquire ambivalence and forge ahead into recovery from addiction and mental health struggles.

Families in Alabama and elsewhere do not have to wait for their Loved Ones to ask for Help or Hit Bottom.

Families sitting around in a holding pattern, choosing the path of inaction while waiting for their loved one to ask for help or hit bottom, was a wise and practical choice, said nobody. Families in Alabama who are at their bottom and asking for help can take the first step with our S.A.F.E.® Intervention Services. Addiction and mental health problems are not going to correct themselves. Unless the person with addiction and mental health concerns sees the need to improve, they will not fix the problem. Our experience with residents of Alabama tells us that intellectually, the family understands this. Unfortunately, like most others, regardless of where they are in the nation, families struggle with addressing the problem due to emotions, irrespective of their intellectual capacity to see the forest amongst the trees. 

Adjusting the environment is far easier and far more effective than trying to change the person with addiction and mental health concerns, where most families start. The prominent tagline throughout our website states that interventions are not about learning how to control your loved one; they are about letting go of believing you can. Exhausting all your efforts into trying to talk your loved one into treatment almost always fails because it does not address where your loved one must be in their mind to change. If you fall into a 100-million-dollar windfall, we can talk to you all day about getting a job, and you certainly would not have to. We understand your loved one is likely not sitting on significant cash. What we are saying is that in their world and perception, it does not take much for someone with addiction and mental health problems to consider their situation comfortable. What a family or the outside world may view as something they would never consider comfortable, the standards or bar your loved one has set for themselves and is accepting of is much lower. Seeing it this way is where families struggle the most, believing their loved one’s life is far worse than their loved one thinks it is and wondering why they are not doing anything about it. To achieve any chance of a successful outcome, we must address the environment and move the bar.

Initial Consultation

Our process starts with a phone call to our office. When the family agrees, we move to a family consultation call. We begin the assessment phase after the family has approved the intervention.

Arranging the Treatment Plan and the Logistics for the Intervention

The next step is arranging the treatment plan and the logistics for the intervention. Upon arrival, our interventionist utilizes our S.A.F.E.® Intervention and Family Recovery Coaching manual as a guide.

Face-To-Face Intervention

The following day is the face-to-face intervention with your family, the interventionist, and your loved one. Regardless of the outcome, your family will move into our S.A.F.E.® program for guidance and support. The S.A.F.E.® curriculum consists of weekly family meetings with several support groups offered throughout the week. One-on-one support is available and reserved for families actively engaged in our meetings and support groups. Families are assigned homework assignments to work on goals and process the work they do for themselves outside of the S.A.F.E.® curriculum.

Outside Work for Families

The outside work can include Al-Anon, Families Anonymous, CoDA, A.C.O.A. meetings, marriage and family therapy, and individual counseling. We also encourage families to participate in hobbies and self-care activities. The S.A.F.E.® Addiction and Mental Health Intervention Services and Family Recovery Coaching program is designed to help families take their lives back, regardless of whether their loved one agrees to accept your gift of a second chance at life.